Social responsibility Essay Example for Free

Social responsibility Essay The utilitarian view requires that the focus should be on the effects of the decision/action, such as effects in the form of benefit or costs. Aside from considering benefits and costs, this view also considers the number of people affected. In essence, a decision/action that benefits more people is generally viewed as more favorable. This view is limited because the definition of such benefit/cost can be flexible, based on the person’s perspective and the context. The moral rights rule puts emphasis on the individual rights. For example, this rule requires that the decision/action should lead to the maximum protection of these rights, as much as possible. For example, a decision/action that provides greater protection for the privacy rights of employees is considered more favorable in this model. However, note that the rights of stakeholders are to be considered, inclusive of employees and investors within the context of the organization. This rule is limited because it does not guide the decision-maker regarding which rights should be prioritized. The legal rule, on the other hand, puts focus mainly on the application of suitable conventional standards as well as laws based on the legal system. For instance, this rule indicates that the established laws should be used as basis for making the most appropriate decisions. A decision that upholds the law is considered favorable in this ethical perspective. However, it might be difficult to actually identify the most suitable rule. In the integrative social contracts rule, it is indicated that there must be proper consideration for the context, and the dependence of the appropriateness of ethical actions based on such context. Different contexts need to different ethical considerations even when facing the same or similar dilemma. This ethical view is limited because it does not properly provide a consistent basis for ethical decision-making. Personal Perspective The model that I consider as close to my ethical perspective is the utilitarian rule. I consider this perspective as easily applicable in many situations. For instance, it requires identification of the affected people/parties, as well as the identification of the benefits and costs that might occur as a result of the decisions/options at hand. I also view as a utilitarian perspective as close to my personal ethical perspective because I believe that it is important to consider all of the affected parties, and that every individual involved in the situation should come. In essence, this ethical model tries to distribute the consideration for benefits/costs to the individuals in a situation, rather than grouping them and prioritizing/evaluating them for group. In this way, there is better consideration for the weight of the number of people affected. This is in contrast to the moral rights rule, for instance, which considers groups of stakeholders and their rights within the context of the business organization. My core beliefs include that every person is significant. This means that even seemingly small individuals compared to highly powerful stakeholder groups should also matter. This is one of the reasons why I considered a utilitarian perspective as the module that is close to my personal ethical view. I also have the value of considering the diversity in the perspectives and interests of people. In this regard, in applying the utilitarian model, I usually think about what these interests and perspectives might be, so that I would be more accurate in evaluating the potential benefits/costs that might affect the people in this situation of the ethical dilemma. Thus, because I put value on diversity of interests and the significance of every individual, I believe that the utilitarian model is more acceptable and is highly aligned to my view. Ethical Dilemma Recognition and Analysis. An ethical dilemma is a situation in which the available options present significant advantages/benefits as well as disadvantages/costs. This means that it appears that none of the options actually stands out in terms of the benefits that can be achieved, because each of the options has notable costs. Thus, the ethical dilemma requires that the decision-makers should evaluate the weight and significance of the benefits and costs of these options. An ethical dilemma that I encountered in the past was with regard to the decision on which project to take for a term paper. This project was group-based. As the team leader, I needed to make the final decision on which specific topic to take. I viewed my input as the most favorable, although some of the inputs from the team members were actually also interesting. This was a dilemma because choosing my suggestion could help in maximizing the score that we could get from the project, but it could jeopardize teamwork. On the other hand, choosing to make the team members make the ultimate decision could lead to a slower process and conflicts among the team members. In terms of the utilitarian framework, the benefits would be in terms of how the ultimate decision could affect all the members. There must be consideration for the number of members affected, as well as the benefits/disadvantage. Ultimately, in using the utilitarian perspective in this ethical dilemma, I decided that it was necessary to let the group decided so that their interests could be more effectively considered. In this way, the decision actually resulted in a favorable score for the group, even though we experienced some challenges initially. The implications of this decision were that it benefited more members of the group, because they were satisfied in terms of greater involvement in the decision. It was limited because it did not properly consider the conventional rules on which topics to pursue. Ethical Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility Ethical leadership is of critical significance in any business organization. This is so because the actions of a leader can lead or mislead the entire organization. In this regard, in ensuring that the decisions and actions of the leader remain ethical all the time, the organization can expect that the activities of subordinates would also be as ethical as possible. Basically, a higher level of effectiveness in applying ethical principles in leadership should lead to a higher probability of ethical conduct among all the other members of the organization. I view corporate social responsibility as necessary and important, not just for the stakeholders, but also for the business organization. This is so because I believe that the business organization is a citizen of society. Instead of just considering it as a mechanism for generating profits, I view the business organization as part of society. The improvement in the contributions of the business organization to the development of society should lead to an improvement in society as well as the improvement in the opportunities for the business. I believe that organizations should be deeply involved in social responsibility, as much as they are resources and realistic contexts would allow. I understand that business organizations have limitations in terms of their resources. However, these business organizations should also review social responsibility as opportunities for them to improve the society in the market in general. An improvement in the market should lead to better business opportunities later on. Moreover, better contributions in the social responsibility efforts of the business organization should help in improving corporate image as well as the relationships of the organization with stakeholders, especially community members and customers, among other stakeholder groups.